Moondrop
by Mary Allen
Summary: (20/20 SYOC CLOSED) X1220, North Alakitasia. As one of the few rare guilds that accepts those with and without magic equally, Moondrop has been faring well. But foes more powerful than one can imagine are plotting behind the Unseen Gates. It will be up to the Moondrop members to stop their plans from being achieved. Set in the same universe as Seven Lions.
1. Chapter 1

**Moondrop**

 **Prologue**

 **Of Dragonflies and New Members**

With intense fascination, two golden orbs observed the two mating dragonflies flying around her, thin slits narrowing in surprise when the pair landed on the pointed tail she was lazily swishing around herself and continued their activities.

For a moment, her full, golden lips stretched in a small smile, the more pressing concerns momentarily forgotten as she watched the beautiful act of creating life. After twitching its wings a few times, the dragonfly couple took flight, soon getting lost amidst the gleams of sunlight reflected from the soft ripples scattered across the calm surface of the lagoon.

Ambrosia Vivian sat cross-legged, suspended in the air few inches above the body of water. The sun rays made her S-shaped horns glint a bright shade of gold, nicely contrasting her ivory skin. The soft breeze was gently playing with her long, silver hair that were floating slowly all around the woman´s head.

She came to the homey pebble beach to give rest to her unease. She could feel the Unseen Gates shift again a few hours ago. She couldn´t sense exactly what was happening but movement in the Gates was never a good sign. She repressed a shudder and turned her face back towards the scarce sun rays that made their way over the mountain tops standing around the lagoon, secluding it from the rest of the region. The force field protecting the city was barely visible from down here, the hexagon pattern only making itself known if the sun hit it from the right angle.

 _I cannot tell my children yet._

The fact that her favorite mug shattered into pieces this morning did nothing to alleviate her concerns.

She was distracted from her musings by the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Here you are, Master," a young man in his mid-twenties said with a kind smile as he got within hearing distance. "I thought I might find you here."

The approaching fellow was Milo Reeves. He stood at almost six feet with his long, thin limbs. He had straight, chin length brown hair. His kind, hazelnut eyes were greeting Ambrosia from behind the rectangular rimless glasses.

Milo was one of the founding members that was with her when she established her guild about 15 months back and since then, he was irreplaceable in terms of support.

He crossed the remaining meters until he was standing right in front of the water, shrouded his body in a thin layer of light pink energy and continued in his tracks, straight into the water, then sat right next to where Ambrosia was floating.

"The Gates shifted again?" the man asked. Except it wasn´t as much a question as an observation. He didn´t even needed to look at the Master´s face to know, he could feel the steel blue tingling discharges of her anxiety in the aura washing against his side. His bionic right hand was absentmindedly tapping against the water.

Ambrosia nodded. It was no use hiding anything from Milo, he always seemed to know exactly what was weighing on her mind. "This time, it lasted longer than before and felt more stronger. Things aren´t looking so well for us. And I still haven´t made any progress in locating the Original." Her gold demonic eyes met his friendly hazelnut ones.

If Milo was unsettled by her statement, it did not show. He smiled again. "Well, whatever is coming, I´m sure that all of us can overcome it together. Just focus on searching for the Original for now," he said, flopping on his back into the water.

Ambrosia relaxed somewhat. No matter what was thrown that way, she knew that she could always count on her children.

"I almost forgot. The reason why I came here," Milo said. "A new member came to join Moondrop. I came for you so you can do the entrance test. Wouldn´t want to keep them waiting," he added lightly.

This perked the Master´s interest, her gloomy mindset changing into a more excited one. The prospect of accepting new members always energized her. "Then what are we waiting for?" She gracefully stood up and started walking towards the guild, leaving Milo to scramble up from the ground and follow her; the pink coating on his body vanishing as soon as he stepped out of the water, leaving him perfectly dry.

As she walked - or more accurately floated - Ambrosia´s bare feet were hovering about a feet above the ground. Her demonic heritage allowed her to literally walk on air. Even if she was about four inches shorter than Milo, she stood taller than him now. Milo had to make haste even with his long legs to keep up with the pace she set.

"So who´s our new member?" Ambrosia asked.

"I actually haven´t seen them yet. Cyan contacted me a few minutes back saying he saw an unregistered person coming in through the camera system, looking for someone who manages member admissions. I don´t know any details about them though."

Any person willing to join the family was always welcome, provided they passed Ambrosia´s entrance test. Ambrosia briefly wondered whether the new person would be a Mage or a Phaser, but it would make little difference in the end, as her guild made a point about accepting everyone who qualified and wanted to contribute, magic-born or not.

Moondrop was stationed in the outskirts of the city of Eraklyon, the fifth biggest city in the country. Despite its size, it managed to fit into a mountain pass and parts of it were stationed either underground or in caves carved out in the base of the mountains. There was no scarcity when it came to nature´s resources, except maybe for sunlight. The rocky ground was rich on oils and minerals and clean water was aplenty.

On their way up, they passed the doors of one of the other two guilds in the city, Entropy Rave. It was rather unusual for a single city to host three guilds, but Entropy Rave and Arcane Tome were science guilds that didn´t want to have anything in common with magic-borns, not to mention that their purpose was primarily research based, unlike Moondrop, whose main focus was carrying out the traditional mission requests.

Ambrosia smiled inwardly when her gaze landed on the Moondrop guild hall, a glass-and-steel fortress hovering good three hundred feet above the ground. Ambrosia herself had helped to design it so that it would keep up with the latest technology developments but looked impressive at the same time.

"Aaand we´re here." Milo´s voice Ambrosia out of her musings as they arrived at the ground station. "After you."

A quick palm scan was all it took to enter the elevator capsule that would lift them to the guild mainroom.

Ambrosia took the few seconds to check her reflection in the glass walls of the capsule and attempted to straighten out her clothes – a red silk v-neck dress with a tie around her waist - and made sure the lot of her colorful bracelets don´t cover the white henna tattoos over her arms, feet and tail. Finally, she made sure her ruby tikka headpiece was properly positioned in the middle of her forehead and wrapped firmly in place around her horns.

She gave her reflection a playful wink. There, now she looked presentable. Milo, pretending not to notice her sudden flurry of activity, subtly smiled to himself behind her back.

At last, they arrived at the guild´s main door. Ambrosia took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator, prepared to greet the hopefully new addition to her slowly expanding family.

 **AN: Moondrop is set in the same universe as Lightningpanda´s Seven Lions. The two storylines will intersect eventually and the characters will meet. The credit for the overarching plot goes to Panda, I´m just a hired grunt to do the surrounding detail work :).**

 **Now, at first, I want everyone to MESSAGE ME FIRST before actually sending a character. It´s all included in the rules so please read them.**

 **Well, I´m looking forward to our cooperation on this story. I´m warning you ahead however, one hell of a year is ahead of me, yet I will try my best to not go on breaks surpassing one month.**

 **All information below is also posted on my profile together with update on spots and restrictions.**

 **MOONDROP SYOC RULES**

 **1\. If you already have a character in Seven Lions, you can have a character too in Moondrop. The character can be related somehow, but keep in mind that the two guilds are literally a continent far from each other.**

 **2\. For now, only one OC per person limit. You can however include minor characters like lovers or family members in the form of your main character, and these might make small cameos throughout the story.**

 **3\. When you send me your character, please label the PM: Moondrop – (character name)/(ability name)**

 **4\. I will accept reservations as to give everyone, even the slower ones, a chance. Haste makes waste.**

 **5\. Even if you want to send a character right away, please message me about your intentions first, so I can tell you if I already have too much of a certain character type. In your message, tell me the character´s gender and age, basic outlines of personality (just a sentence or so is fine) and a brief description of their magic or phase. That way, if you do happen to create something someone else already did, I will be able to warn you ahead of time and you won´t have to redo the whole form.**

 **6\. Only one magic per character. I will also accept one dragon slayer, although that person will have to talk about it with me prior to sending their character.**

 **7\. I´ll introduce a new concept called Phase. Phasers are basically non-magic-borns who utilize various means other than magic to do jobs that normally require magic. What a Phase can look like is shown below the rules.**

 **8\. Before you decide on making a character, please check restrictions I will be updating regularly as I receive characters.**

 **9\. Keys are the most powerful mages in the guild working directly under the Master. They are the only ones allowed to go solo.**

 **MOONDROP OC FORM**

 **Name:**

 **Known As: (what the people call him/her or the guild. Optional)**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Reputation: (good, bad, notorious, etc. Describe why)**

 **Rank: (look into rank descriptions. Make sure your desired position is still free)**

 **Guild Mark Location & Color:**

 **Occupation: (prior to joining Moondrop, if any)**

 **APPEARANCE**

 **Height:**

 **Body type:**

 **Eye shape + color:**

 **Hairstyle + color:**

 **Skin tone:**

 **Other: (Accessories, scars, tattoos, noticeable features, birthmarks etc)**

 **Default Clothes:**

 **(For now, I won't pressure you on clothes for other occasions, but in the case I set your character in a setting where different set of clothing is required, I'll let you know ahead so you can think it up and send it to me additionally).**

 **PERSONALITY**

 **Personality: (DETAIL. To me, this is the most important part of the form. It should contain at least a solid paragraph, the more the better. Don't just list personality traits, explain how they manifest and what influences the manifestation. PLEASE BE CREATIVE. Think outside of the usual lazy geniuses, snarky smartasses and silent characters with trust issues. Try to create a balanced personality with both positive and negative traits).**

 **Personality type (optional): (This is just my quirk. If you're familiar with any typology, for example MBTI, Enneagram, Big Five etc, you can say the type your character is here (please include what typology you are using). 4 letters or a few numbers can tell me more about the way a character thinks or what their motivation is than a few paragraphs :))**

 **Manner of speech: (Do they stutter? Swear? Speak super politely?)**

 **Likes:**

 **Dislikes:**

 **Fears:**

 **TYPES OF PEOPLE THEY WOULD-**

 **Fall in love with:**

 **Befriend:**

 **Hate:**

 **HOW THEY ACT TOWARDS-**

 **Romantic interests**

 **Strangers:**

 **Enemies:**

 **Friends:**

 **When under pressure/angry:**

 **POWERS**

 **Is your character a mage or a phaser? (Depending on your answer, choose either the mage or the phaser section and delete the other. Information on what are phasers phasers as well as examples are below this form).**

 **MAGE**

 **Magic Name:**

 **Magic Color:**

 **Magic Type: (Caster, Holder, etc.)**

 **Magic Description:**

 **Abilities: (if any)**

 **Spells: (Try to fit into the 5-12 spells range. If you character has use-based magic, that is magic that relies on its atributes and abilities rather than different spells, ignore the spell section and instead just describe what the magic can do as accurately as possible. Speed Magic for example. Unless you have 8 spells for 8 different speed modes, you can just describe what is possible with it, like creating tornadoes, moving so fast everything appears slow etc, without having to name every single move. You should still add some general weaknesses.**

 **Not every spell has weaknesses, but at least the stronger ones and those to be used in battle should have. Weakness can be anything ranging from high mana cost, long casting time to backlash or the need to have specific conditions to cast it.**

 **Spells learned later: (Should aim for about 4-7)**

 **PHASER**

 **(Refer to the phaser examples to see what is expected)**

 **Phase name:**

 **Phase description:**

 **Weaknesses:**

 **ABILITIES**

 **Abilities: (Skills your character possesses unrelated to their magic or phase. Can be everything from talents to skills acquired during their previous lives.)**

 **Weapon(s): (if any)**

 **Equipment: (if any)**

 **Strengths:**

 **Weaknesses:**

 **BACKGROUND**

 **Family: (Can include dead family members. Include name, ties to your character and what kind of relationship do the two have – especially if you want them mentioned at some point).**

 **Hometown: (Name, location (don't forget that the story is set in Alakitasia, not Fiore!), brief description).**

 **History: (You don't have to write an essay, but be descriptive enough to convey what shaped your character to who they are today. If a guildmember at the start of the story, include brief history with Moondrop. The guild has been around for about an year and three months).**

 **Plot points: (Are there any situations you'd like to see your character in or problems/possible plot point you'd like me to focus on?)**

 **STATS (Out of 10, try to be realistic)**

 **Attack:**

 **Defense:**

 **Endurance:  
Speed:**

 **Intelligence:**

 **Mana reserve:**

 **Random stat:**

 **EXTRA (all optional)**

 **Opinions on Govt.?**

 **Thoughts on Science vs. Magic?**

 **Do they hold ill feelings towards the system/people that treat magic differently?**

 **How does he/she feel about doing chores?**

 **Living Expenses: (how much does your character spends on money: rent, bills, clothes, food, etc.)**

 **Ideal Missions: (what your character prefers to take on missions)**

 **Hated Missions: (what your character loathes taking in missions)**

 **Exceed?**

 **Pet?**

 **Theme Song(s): (A song, with or without lyrics, that you feel describes the general feel of your character that I can listen to while writing them. Can have more J)**

 **Other: (Anything I forgot)**

 **PHASER EXAMPLES**

 **Keep in mind that Phasers aren´t strictly restricted to technology. Wouldn´t want 10 hackers running around.**

 **(These examples are courtesy of Lightningpanda) These are not actual characters, these serve to let you know how creative you can get with your character´s Phases since it´s a new thing never seen before.**

 **1\. Adele Reese  
Phaser: Potion Maker  
Phaser Description: Uses arts of chemistry and mystic arts to create powerful potions that can range from simple healing to immortality. Some potions can contain elemental properties, such as creating illegal potions meant to cause amour or death. However, some potions can be used for offense and defense purposes. However, its arts aren't meant to be combat. Therefore it has a limited range. But the effects depends how powerful the user is to achieve the perfection of going toe-to-toe with an S Class mage.**

 **2\. Tiger Huen Lee  
Phaser: Exorcism  
Phaser Description: Forcibly remove possessing entities (ghost, demons, etc.) from the body, object or the location they are possessing/haunting. Unable to use magic, but able to utilize special weapons made of holy blades and with the help of technology, able to utilize certain moves that is easily confused as magic but isn't.**

 **3\. Yasmine Cross  
Phaser: Computer Operations  
Phaser Description: Has immense knowledge of computers, everything connected to them, including hacking, coding, programming, fixing bugs/viruses, cracking passwords, etc.**

 **4\. Griffin Valor  
Phaser: Nanite  
Phaser Description: Able to manipulate tiny microscopic machines that dwell inside his cellular structural into weapons, armor, and his body. Depending how far his imagination is, these microscopic machines obey according to how he imagines it so. Though it will be rendered useless if an EMP when off.**

 **5\. Sasha Aleksandra  
Phaser: Psybernetics  
Phaser Description: Can create and manipulate technology that is powered by psionic power of Sasha, whether in part or entirely. Using this technology, he can augment or focus their psionic energy or can even utilize psionic means that can not be used without said technology.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Best Mission Ever!

_Best mission ever_ , thought Red as he stirred on a deck chair in an attempt to find the most comfortable position, the piece of beach equipment squeaking slightly as it tried to support Red´s well-built, seven feet frame. It was hot and the sun was shining, only occasionally obscured by a wandering cloud.

He sipped his daiquiri and continued to watch over the objective of his mission, who was currently swimming around in the azure sea. He ran his left hand through his spiked up hair, feeling the heat accumulated in the dark blue strands, covered with streaks of lighter blue scattered here and there. The black guildmark on his left forearm was clearly outlined on his tanned skin that was disrupted by minor scars.

The said objective was Mariko, more affectionately dubbed Marimari-chan by her fans. She was a woman of unparalleled beauty, her straight violet-pink cut fashionably short and her bright green eyes always smiling above the small nose sprinkled with a light dusting of freckles. She had a fit, delicate figure and perfect porcelain skin without blemishes. With looks like these, it was really no wonder she chose swimsuit and underwear modeling to go along her career as a singer.

Red watched Mariko come out from the water and make her way across the white sand, shaking the excess water out of her hair. He resisted the urge to whistle appreciatively. With every day spent at the beach, the young singer whipped out a completely new model for each day.

This was the sixth day of their mission and Mariko outdid all of her previously-worn models with the intricate tangle of vibrant yellow strings that that safely hid everything important yet appeared very revealing.

"Will one of you boys help me spread the tanning lotion over my back?" Mariko called out playfully with her angelic voice to the three Moondrop members stationed around.

Red lowered his sunglasses, revealing his striking electric blue eyes, and cast a lazy look to the other two. Jackson, standing behind him, didn´t look like he would leave the spot from which he could observe the entire area. _How the hell does he not swelter in that attire._

Indeed, Jackson Evans insisted on wearing his usual attire consisting of dark gray dress shirt, black vest and tie, long black pants and black shoes. The young man decided to forgo comfort in place of professionalism, despite their employer´s casual attitude.

Jackson was the youngest of them three at 17 years, two years younger than Red himself. He was no shorty for his age, but Red still towered over him ten full inches. He was well groomed, with neat brown hair shaved short on the sides and the rest of the hair brushed to the right side. His brown, monolid eyes were calmly scanning the area.

The remaining man did not lose any time in taking up the request and with a friendly grin, as he briskly made his way to the waiting Mariko. "Anytime you call, my dear angel."

"Cassidy, you huge flirt," Mariko purred, but she was already lying down on her belly and the man called Cassidy started working on untangling the strings that her bikini top consisted of. They quickly came undone. He obviously was not new to this.

Cassidy was the oldest of them three at twenty-eight years. He was very attractive, with his slender build and shorter height at five feet nine. With refined features and fair skin he looked as if he was brought to life from any girl´s dream. His smoky, pale blue-grey eyes were radiating nonchalant confidence. His thick hair was a shade of reddish brown. They were short and well groomed, as he got a new haircut only recently before accepting the mission.

A complicated tangle of tattoos spread across his skin, going around the occasional scars that crisscrossed the man´s body as well as the black guild mark on the left side of his chest. Element-themed tattoos covered his left arm and a mighty mural of mythical creatures meshed with technology spread over his back, stretching as he reached for the bottle of lotion.

"I wish my skin wasn´t this pale," Mariko complained to her pillow as Cassidy squirted some of the lotion into his palms. "I tan very poorly. Unless I´m careful, I burn rather than tan. I don´t wanna go to the next photo shoot and blind everyone with my skin. And all these other models in my line of work have beautiful, sun-kissed skin. And then I come along and it´s as if you slapped cookie dough on a pile of fresh, gold-baked cookies."

"Well, I don´t know anyone who didn´t try to stuff their mouth full of cookie dough when their mom wasn´t looking," Cassidy quickly retorted, going along with Mariko´s strange comparison as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Mm," Mariko thought about his comment for a moment while his hands continued to work on her back. "You might be right."

Their exchange was halted when the sound of barely-audible humming reached them. A small black drone was maneuvering in the air, trying to position itself above the residence. A small camera was attached to it, the objective extending and shrinking as it tried to zoom in on the people on the beach.

Mariko cast a glance upwards and then turned back to lay down. "Leave it be. It´s just paparazzi. Or more like parasyzzi – like parasytes. Won´t give you a minute of time for yourself. You go out with your guy friend you haven´t seen since your childhood and next thing you know, you´re reading tabloid sensations speculating if you´ve finally found your soul mate or even if you´re hiding pregnancy. I tried to resist at first, but it´s no use. You only get used to it," she grumbled. "Oh, and you guys should prepare for that too now. _The underwear model Marimari-chan is spending a week full of burning passion in a seaside residence with three handsome studs_."

"I don´t think I would mind," Cassidy said, spreading the rest of the lotion.

"No, that won´t do for the guild´s reputation," Jackson called out from the top. He turned and walked inside the villa only to return with his custom-made compound bow and one arrow. With a well-rehearsed move, he set the bowstring into the groove and adeptly trained the bow onto the invading drone.

"Permission to take down the spying apparatus trespassing on private property?"

"Affirmative, corporal." Mariko mock-saluted from her lying position and Jackson smiled and released the arrow. With deadly accuracy, it pierced the drone, and continued its flight until it sank into the floor of an inflatable motor boat. The fat guy who operated the drone abandoned his goal and floored the gas pedal in an effort to get to the shore before his boat deflated.

"Thanks! You´ve spared us from the rumor mill for now. Had I known, I wouldn´t´ve wrote _send your most handsome guys_ into the mission request when I filed it in."

"If you did that, you wouldn´t enjoy your holidays as much as you do, now would you?" Cassidy retorted.

"Ah well, that´s true. By the way," Mariko turned her head to look at Jackson. "Who in this age of modern machinery has a bow as their weapon of choice?"

"A quality bow can have many surprising uses compared to a standard firearm," Jackson said as he walked onto the little private beach. "It´s completely silent, portable, you can reuse the arrows, you can use it in close ranged combat, you can use the parts separately as blades, or the bowstring to start a fire..."

"Ah, I see," Mariko said, "that does make sense."

"Jack also uses a sword," Cassidy added his two cents. "And Red has daggers."

"I have no excuse," Red called from his deck chair. "Daggers are cool. And easier to use in close combat."

"So you guys literally bring swords to a gunfight, huh?" Mariko laughed.

"There´s more to it than that," Jackson said. "Our guild unites both those born with and without magic, if they have the abilities to back it up. Some mages carry weapons as a backup to their magic, those who can´t use magic are either weapon experts or use weapons as complements to their abilities."

"So if I, let´s say, was able to sing the high C and be able to shatter glass with my voice, I could join your guild?"

"It´s not as easy," Jackson replied. "Several more factors come into play. If you actually were able to do that, that´d mean plus points for you, but to what it really boils down in the end is how well you are able to complete a mission with or without this ability as well as certain personal factors."

"So you´d let basically anyone join?"

"Mostly yes, if they´re able to do missions." Red unwillingly rose from his deck chair to join the discussion below. This revealed the huge demon bat tattoo depicted on his back. "Our Master has a weak spot for people. She doesn´t care about power all that much, what really matters is that the guild is one big family."

"That sounds nice." A distant gaze appeared in Mariko´s green eyes for a moment. "Your Master must be a very kind woman."

"Well, she´s kind of... How can I put it..." Red started.

"Peculiar?" Cassidy offered.

"Yes, something like that. You´d have to meet her to understand."

"Who knows, I might stop by in Eraklyon on a tour one day. Perhaps I could meet your Master then." Mariko paused for a while, then she turned to Jackson. "Could you bring me another Caipirinha? With lot of honey in it? These vocal cords need soothing before I start using them again tomorrow."

"At it, right away," Jackson said and hurried away to prepare the beverage. Mariko let out a breath and relaxed onto the deck chair.

Mariko however wasn´t allowed the luxury to savor her drink outside as the few clouds in the sky ganged up and big, fat raindrops began falling all around the three people. Mariko held her bikini top firmly pressed to her chest as the trio retreated into the villa to seek refuge from the sudden tropical storm.

* * *

"...and so she´s all like: if you accept the Yay Boy offer to go nude, I´ll have no choice other than shoot everyone involved before the photographs see the light of the world," Mariko laughed, finishing her anecdote.

It was evening and the four were currently seated around a table in the small but luxurious dining room. The dish of this evening, salmon with sweet potatoes, laid eaten in front of them, only bones remaining on the plates. Clanking of kitchen equipment was heard from the kitchenette where the private chef, who was included with the housing, was cleaning up after himself.

"I didn´t know you have a twin sister," Jackson remarked.

"It´s not a very well-known fact," Mariko explained, "she´s not the type that likes attention and publicity. Either way, I haven´t seen her since she ran away from the orphanage. I wonder how she´s doing now, but I have no way of contacting her."

Red found himself liking the young woman more by the minute. When they accepted the mission, he had no expectations of how their employer would turn out. He imagined she´d be spoiled and bossy, like most young starlets tend to be, but upon meeting her closer, he found that she actually was a pleasant company.

The two bottles of fine red wine from X1208 were slowly being emptied and the evening was progressing pleasantly. With Jackson refusing to join due to being underage ("and have you forgotten that we are on a mission here?"), it was only up to Mariko, Cassidy and Red to make good use of the wine.

The mood was becoming more relaxed as the last rays of sunlight vanished behind the sea. Jackson soon excused himself from the table, to make the rounds, as he said, leaving the three to each have their last toast.

"For Moondrop! May your magic stay strong and your weapons sharp! And all your guys be handsome! Cheers!" Mariko raised her glass.

"And babes! Don´t forget the babes!" Cassidy chimed in. The three clinked their glasses and sipped the wine.

Red was absentmindedly playing with his glass, swirling the bloody red liquid and watching it glisten in the light of the light bulb above them. He could feel the alcohol seeping into his mind, coating it with cotton-like feeling, lulling it into a relaxed state, but he was far from drunk. He just grew quieter and preferred to observe what was happening around him.

The same couldn´t be said about Mariko. Although her eyes weren´t clouded by the liquor, her soft giggling was filling the air as Cassidy was whispering something Red couldn´t make out into her ear. Red eventually started feeling like a third wheel and excused himself from the table as well.

As he rose up from his chair and was walking past the two remaining occupants of the table, he noticed that Cassidy was softly stroking Mariko´s thigh, and that Mariko was leaning closer to Cassidy. Last thing he saw before leaving the room was Mariko laying his hand on top of Cassidy´s and smiling. Then the doors closed behind him.

* * *

Jackson returned from his perimeter check into the room the three of them were assigned to sleep in during the course of their mission. He found Red packing his things for their journey home tomorrow.

"Wha..." he started, too indignant to ever properly finish a sentence. "Are you serious?"

"What, why?" Red asked, not even turning from where he tried to unsuccessfully close his bursting traveling sack.

"Those are the shower gel bottles that our bathroom was provided with. And shampoo. And shaving foam."

"Hey, this stuff is for us to use. If we haven´t used it during the week, it´s okay if we take it home with us. It´s free," Red grinned.

"I have no words for you," Jackson stated, still unbelieving. "I´m going to shower before I take the first night watch."

"You might not want to walk too near around Mariko´s room tonight. You might hear thing you don´t want to hear," Red warned with a cryptic smile. "Besides, I´m sure her room will be very guarded this night."

"What´s what supposed to mean?"

Red left the question unanswered, turning his attention back to his sack. Jackson decided to let it go, shaking his head and walking towards the bathroom door.

After a few minutes, the sound of shower ceased and sound of the shower screen opening could be heard. What came next sounded like a beautiful song in Red´s ears.

"HEY! WHERE ARE THE TOWELS?"

Red whistled innocently. He pushed his new towels deeper into the sack and was finally able to close it.

* * *

In the following morning Mariko´s short vacation ended. A black limousine arrived to pick the young model up. Mariko was just bidding goodbye to the trio of adventurers.

"What if I requested you three to watch over me next year, eh?" she asked as she hugged Red and gave him a light peck on the cheek. "I was thinking of Espero. I´ve heard they have the best nightclubs in the entire Alakitasia."

"Why not? We´d be glad to go anywhere with you," Cassidy gave her a smile, just as she moved in to bid her farewell to him as well.

He and Red now wore their usual clothes. Cassidy wore a plain white shirt with his sleeves rolled up and black jeans. He didn´t part with his well-worn dark brown work shoes. Red was dressed in an open black leather jacket with an undershirt underneath, a pair of jeans an high-collar leather boots.

"Thank you so much for everything. I had a fun week," Mariko lusciously smiled at Cassidy. Then she turned to all three of them. "If I ever have a concert in your area, just contact my manager, give her your names and you´ll get free VIP tickets." She smiled for the last time and turned to leave. "Well, till then!" and then she was capering away towards the waiting limousine.

A big, bald man in a dress suit with black tie and a pair of shades, who was obviously a bodyguard, opened the backdoor for her. His employer just greeted him with **'** aww, John, look at you, even you tanned more than I did during your break, **'** and then the door closed and Mariko vanished out of sight behind the tinted glass.

The man nodded in the Moondrop member´s direction, acknowledging their services during the week, got into the car on the position of the driver and the limousine took off. The back window opened and a pale hand appeared, waving. The three waved back until the luxurious car disappeared from the driveway.

"Well that was a surprisingly uneventful mission," Jackson remarked once the car was out of sight.

"True, but well paid," Red replied. "It´s not every day that you´re offered a mission that pays 250 000 crowns each for basically lazing around on a beach for a week. Can´t complain."

"And she was a babe too," Cassidy said, his eyes still watching the driveway.

"Yeah," Red laughed, "besides, it´s not like every mission degenerates into a fight. We got a royally payed vacation."

The other two nodded. The mission was over, there was nothing else to be done. They gathered their belongings and set out to the nearby city to book bullet train tickets back home to Eraklyon.

* * *

 **Credits: Ambrosia Vivian – LightningPanda**

 **Milo Reeves – Mary Allen (me)**

 **Reddim Lee Nocturne – Kive660**

 **Jackson Evans – Deniable0712**

 **Cassidy McCauley - AltairaMotives**

 **AN: Did you just read a chapter where nothing really happened? Yes, yes you did. I never thought I was capable of creating something without action, light-hearted banter only, and yet here I am. I have a few things I wish to say.**

 **One: I am apologizing for lateness. And I apologize for lateness in advance. I won´t apologize again, but this might be a common occurrence in the future. I´m in my last year of high school and the work load is just insane, and it hasn´t even begun properly yet. So you´ll probably we waiting a while before you see another chapter, but it shouldn´t stretch for months. I literally have to bring my notebook to school to write this because at home there is only time for homework.**

 **Two: English isn´t my first language and neither it is my beta´s. So I´m sorry if there are any grammar errors and similar. On this note, I would like to thank my beta and my best friend at the same time, scarlet the hunter, for proofreading the chapter (ya took damn too long ya fat bitch. Love ya).**

 **Three: I don´t consider myself much of a writer, so any kind of constructive criticism will be very appreciated. That includes the three I wrote this chapter as well as those whose characters haven´t appeared yet.**

 **Four: That´s about all I can think of now. Huge thanks to everyone who submitted, the spots filled very fast and are not open anymore. There are a few who haven´t sent me a character yet, namely RedMoonRabbit, KingKatsu, Dreadburner94 and PainX65. I´m not pressuring you since I know you are the types that take longer. Just take all the time you need.**

 **I´ll see you next time!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Traps and Biker Gangs

When Ambrosia with Milo in tow entered the main hall of her guild, she saw that Cyan must´ve been kidding them. Because when he said that _there is a new member to join Moondrop_ , he surely could not have meant the crying child right in the middle of the guild hall.

The demoness' gaze brushed over the child´s skinny figure, the long, black hair tied into twin pigtails with red bands and lotus flower decorations, the rosy cheeks, currently stained with tears, and the wide and innocent light pink eyes that were puffy from all the crying. Ambrosia ran her gaze over the child´s clothes – the semi sparkly shirt with sleeves to the elbows, bright red pants with bells sewn on the hems and a red sash tied around her waist. The child wore no shoes – whether they were lost or if the child wore no shoes in the first place, Ambrosia did not know – and finally, bracelets and anklets decorated the child´s arms and feet.

A young woman of twenty was comforting the crying child. "Come on, little girl, it´ll be fine," she smiled as she patted the kid on the head. "What´s your name?"

The child looked at her through tears and sniffed. "I´m a boy."

 _A boy?,_ Ambrosia thought. _No way_. She inspected his face once more – she needed to remind herself that it was indeed _his_ – and shook her head. She could find no clues that would point to that fact. A quick look to her side let her know that Milo was as caught off guard as she was.

"Oh," the woman in front of them tried to quickly hide her embarrassment from making such an awkward mistake. "I´m sorry," she smiled. "So how can I call you?"

"I´m Jia Yi," the boy seemed to remember his manners and hurriedly gave a deep bow.

"And I´m Aspen. Aspen Vale," her almond-shaped, dark violet eyes looked at Jia Yi kindly. Aspen extended her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Your name is nice. Just like you," the boy blurted out, his wide, innocent pink eyes staring at Aspen with all seriousness of the world.

A cute blush appeared on Aspen´s pale cheeks and she absentmindedly tugged one of her long, bright blonde bangs with violet tips behind her ear.

She was saved from the boy´s intense gaze when Ambrosia finally made herself known by floating forward. Jia Yi turned his head and his eyes immediately lit up and he dashed to hug the demoness. "Decima! How did you get here? Those bandits kept chasing after me, there was this one huge guy that managed to hit me with that magic-gun thingy and then I had no idea where you went and I was scared and I somehow ended up in this city, and I thought I would never see you again but you found me!"

Ambrosia was taken aback as the small boy continued to babble while hugging her legs. Then his mind appeared to realize other circumstances and he stepped away from her.

"Wait, why are you floating? And where is Ix´uj?" He started to frantically look around. "I don´t see him here. And who is this man?" He asked, looking at Milo.

Ambrosia´s heart clenched. It was at times like these when she hated her heritage. She descended to the ground and crouched so that she was on the same level as Jia Yi, mere four feet. She took his hands into his. "I´m sorry, I´m not the one you know as Decima. I just take on the appearance of whomever your heart most desires. I´m sorry," she said sadly, averting her eyes. She didn´t want to see the disappointment appearing in the face of the young boy. It was always hard to disillusion those who unsuspectingly saw their deepest desires when they first saw her.

"Okay," proclaimed the boy after a short pause. Then he beamed, all signs of confusion vanishing. "So you´re not Decima. I thought it would be weird if I we were reunited this suddenly. This is so cool! Ne, how does it work?"

Ambrosia was prepared for tears, for denial and disappointment, but she was completely taken aback when no such reaction came. Instead, the boy was circling around her with eyes open in wonder. "Wow, it looks so real!"

Ambrosia could feel some of the boy´s enthusiasm and pure childish awe pouring into her. But there were still more urgent matters at hand. "Where are your parents?"

"At home, probably."

"And where you that be?" Ambrosia asked.

"A long way from here," Jia Yi gestured generally to the west. Ambrosia mentally noted that the boy could determine directions accurately. "I was traveling with Decima and Ix´uj, but we were attacked by bandits and separated. An old lady down in the town pointed here when I asked where I can find some mages. But she also spat on the ground and mumbled something about the Devil."

 _So a mage then_. Finally, they were getting some concrete information from the boy.

"Aspen?" Ambrosia called out to the still-waiting woman.

"Yes, Master?"

"Get together a search party. There are two missing people, so if you assign two people to each of them, that will be a four-man team."

Aspen stopped to consider her options, finger laid across her lips. "Cass, Red and Jack haven´t returned from their mission yet, neither did Kip and Percival. I´m pretty sure Anne is around. It would be easy to find missing people with her magic, but she would probably turn down the offer. Hmm, I can get Mako and May," she paused, trying to think of more names.

"Forgot about me?" Milo feigned a grumble.

"Oh, right, of course," Aspen flashed him a smile. "That makes four of us then. And Ruby of course. We´ll set out as soon as possible." With that, she left to find the rest of their team.

"Hey, Mr. Blue Shirt," Milo felt a small hand tugging at his pants. He looked down to see Jia Yi looking at him with an expression as serious as a child could muster.

"It would be better if you stayed here," Milo smiled at him apologetically. "Don´t worry, we´ll find Decima and Ix´uj soon enough. And you can call me Milo."

"Alright! Thank you, Mister Milo!"

Milo´s protests that _just Milo is fine_ went unnoticed with the arrival of a new person.

The newcomer was a small girl in black and pink goth dress. Her dark brown hair was adorned by a single streak of magenta. She waived with the little covered basket she held in her hands. "I brought Big Brother lunch."

"Hello Aina," Ambrosia greeted her. "Your brother is in his room."

"As always," she sneered. "Geez, what would would he become if he didn´t have me to take care of him." Then her magenta eyes landed on the boy.

"Were you crying?" she asked as she noticed the tear marks around his eyes. "How lame. Boys aren´t supposed to cry."

" _How did you know he was a boy?_ " Milo hissed into her ear.

"Tch. Isn´t it obvious?" She scoffed.

"Actually, while you´re here," Ambrosia smiled at her, "why don´t you show Jia Yi around?"

"Ah well, whatever. Follow me." Aina gestured towards the boy and turned to leave, her basket swinging merrily in her hand.

Jia Yi quickly bowed to both Ambrosia and Milo and ran after the girl.

As the last jingles from the Jia Yi´s bells died away, Milo turned to Ambrosia. "Bright yellow. With clouds of gentle pink. It´s been long since I´ve seen such vibrant colors."

Ambrosia nodded. Even if her insight into people wasn´t visual like Milo´s Aura Sight was, she intuitively reached the same conclusions. Young Yan Jia Yi obviously harbored a lot of potential. _Like an uncut diamond._

* * *

Jia Yi had to hurry to keep up with Aina´s brisk pace.

"You must be similar age as me," Jia Yi tried to start a conversation. "You must be really powerful if you´re a member of the guild!" He smiled at her sweetly. Surely polite behavior and nice words would make the girl view him as an equal.

However, Aina didn´t even look at him as she walked. "I´m not a part of the guild. What are you, an idiot?"

Jia Yi pouted at the rejection. He decided to pass the insult. It sure wouldn´t appear good if he tried to bicker with her. "Why not?" he asked instead.

"Because I´m 10, you dunce," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "This is a world of grownups. But when I grow up, I´m definitely going to join and help Big Brother!" she proclaimed with sparks in her eyes.

"That´s not true. I´ve been traveling with mages since I was 7!" Jia Yi felt hurt. He felt tears building up again in his eyes, but reminded himself of Aina´s remark from before and quickly blinked them away. _Boys aren´t supposed to cry._

Aina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. And it gave you enough experience to take on actual mission. I can totally see you showing up on a client´s doorstep, looking all serious and everything, being all like _hello mister, I came to save your village from the swamp monster!_ The man will call for his wife and the two of them will coo at you for a couple of minutes, you´ll get a lollipop or a bonbon and then doors into your face. And that´s if you´re lucky."

Jia Yi wanted to say something in defense. Aina made some valid points. _She is clever on top of being cute._ He was saved by their arrival to their destination.

"We´re here," Aina cast a cursory glance at at Jia Yi and then turned to hide the naughty smirk that suddenly appeared on her face. She gestured to the door. "After you."

"Okay," Jia Yi reached for the doorknob. It was unlocked. He grabbed it and opened the door, walking inside. He was only able to see a glimpse of the screen-covered wall before a red boxing glove that sprung from the ceiling punched him away into the corridor.

 _Intruder alert, intruder alert,_ announced the door in a mechanical voice.

Aina watched Jia Yi fly passed her and then gleefully skipped into the room. No booby traps were triggered. "Hello Big Brother!" she greeted with an innocent smile, "I brought you lunch." The girl lifted her basket into the air and then set it next to her brother.

"Mmm, thanks," his bright azure eyes never left the screens as his hand dug into the basket. "What do we have today? Sandwiches?"

"Yeah, I was helping Kleine in the shop today so I didn´t have time to prepare a warm meal."

"You could´ve just bought me cup ramen."

"That wouldn´t do," Aina started lecturing him, "you should eat more healthily, just look at yourself," she pointed at his ghostly pale skin and clothes that sagged around his skinny frame.

"Whatever. I´m doing fine." Aina was used to her brother´s mannerisms so she just let it pass. She looked around the room. The floor was covered by random parts in various stages of completion. She sighed. Really, it didn´t look at all like she cleaned the room just two days ago. With half-hearted grumbling, she set out to put the room back into its pristine state.

"Wait, don´t touch that." Aina looked at her brother questioningly and set back down the small, unfinished device. "That´s Kip´s. She left it here before she left on her mission. She´d kill me if something happened to it. Also, it can explode," he added.

"Eh?! You keep potential explosives scattered on the ground among piles of junk?"

"It´s not junk," the teen mumbled under his breath. "And I´m perfectly capable of telling it apart."

Jia Yi finally scrambled himself from the floor and was shuffling his feet behind the open door.

"Come in, I deactivated the traps," the boy who must´ve been Aina´s brother called out to him. They had very similar features, except the boy´s chocolate brown hair was way shorter, and he had an azure streak in them to match his eyes.

Jia Yi carefully tiptoed around the red boxing glove. When it didn´t move, he stepped into the room.

"That was mean," he whined, nursing his hurt cheek.

"I apologize sincerely," the boy said with a grin, "the system is set to attack anyone unfamiliar."

"You big liar. You totally saw us coming on the security cameras." Aina mumbled so that only her brother would hear her. Then she turned to Jia Yi and spoke with an audible voice. "Anyway, this is Cyan, my brother. You could say he´s the guild´s operator. Brother, this is Jia Yi, a random kid who got lost."

"Hi," Cyan waved at him. His other hand reached behind him where he pressed a key on one of the numerous keyboards. The security camera record from the area in the corridor vanished from the screen.

"Cyan? That´s strange. Your eye color is closer to azure," Jia Yi observed.

"My mom named me that. It´s not like I could choose."

 _Obviously_ , Jia Yi berated himself. He wasn´t exactly making a good impression.

"Cyan?" A familiar voice rang out from speakers hidden somewhere in the walls.

"Oh, hey Aspen," Cyan greeted. "What is it?"

"We´re setting out to find two people related to the kid that came to the guild about half an hour ago."

"Oh yeah, he´s here. Need help?" Cyan asked, fingers already flying across his keyboards.

"Yeah. We don´t have any info on where those two are supposed to be, and the area around Eraklyon is pretty big, so any help finding them would be greatly appreciated."

"Those two are mages, right?"

"Yes," Jia Yi joined in.

"Awesome, that makes the search much faster. I just borrow this satelite..." Cyan´s was furiously typing something with his eyes fixed on the screen, "...then I set it to search for magic signatures in radius of 10 miles..."

"Come, let´s go," Aina tugged on Jia Yi´s sleeve. "We shouldn´t disturb him when he means business. I´ll show you the rest of the guild."

Jia Yi was fascinated by the nimble movement of Cyan´s fingers that almost looked blurred to the naked eye. He only reluctantly agreed to leave.

"See you, brother! I´ll be back tomorrow. And don´t forget to eat your lunch again," Aina called from the door. Cyan gave them no acknowledgment, already absorbed in his work. Aina just shook her head and closed the door.

"Seriously, your lunches aren´t granted," she mumbled to the closed door, "you should appreciate my work a bit more."

"YOU HAD ONE JOB, PERCIVAL! ONE JOB! AND YOU ASSHAT HAVE TO GO AND FUCK IT UP!" a short girl of sixteen was yelling at the dark-skinned mage seated behind her.

"Hey, it´s not my fault," her partner, only a year older than herself, tried to defend himself. His short black hair was whipping around his face. "He refused to stop when I tried to make him pull over. No need to get so worked up, Kip."

"NO NEED TO GET WORKED UP, HUH? YOU HAD LEGAL MEANS TO STOP THEM, AND YET YOU JUST HAD TO START BLASTING MAGIC AT THEM! AND MISS!"

"How was I supposed to know they belonged to a magic-hating gang?" Percival asked. His vibrant gold eyes had a hurt expression in them.

Kip´s pale, seafoam green eyes darted towards the multiple motorbikes chasing them. A lot of them were plastered with stickers saying death to all magic-borns. She resisted the urge to bang her head onto the windshield.

Their mission was simple. Recently, multiple instances of speeding happened on this highway from Eraklyon. Their job was to detain the speeding vehicles and impose a ticket on them. It was going fine for the past few days, with most drivers acknowledging their driving offenses with nothing more than mumbled curses.

Kip was stationed on the road with the speed measuring device. If she detected that a vehicle was exceeding the speed limit, she called Percival, who was stationed further down the road. His job was to stop the vehicle and issue a speeding ticket.

Simple enough. But nooo, Percival had to go and try to blast down a motorbike that wasn´t intent on stopping. And now a good-sized patch of the road was turned into pure gold. She wouldn´t be surprised if cars were stopping with excited drivers using whatever means to salvage at least a few nuggets of the rare metal.

But that was the least of her troubles as they were now being chased on a highway by a motorbike gang. The one that avoided Percival´s attack must have called his buddies for a witch hunt, judging by the mocking calls and loud horn blasting from the several motorbikes that were now on their tail.

"Watch out!" Percival´s warning cry was the only thing that alerted Kip to the incoming attack. She quickly swerved their motorbike to the side. Percival gave out a surprised yelp and had to hold on Kip´s waist in an attempt not to fall off the vehicle. Her short tangled white hair that were set free when her dark orange hoodie was blown off tickled him on the face. A glowing silver ball flew passed them, untangling into a net in the air. It lost it´s kinetic energy and harmlessly fell on the road.

"They brought mana cancellers!" Percival called out to Kip.

"Can´t you do anything about it?" she shouted back.

Percival extended his hand and aimed carefully. A bolt of magic shot from his arm and turned the motorbike of the most daring rider, who was within an arm´s reach, into gold. The tires couldn´t endure the sudden increase in weight and exploded, leaving the rider to crash into the guardrail. Another bolt of magic hit the windshield, robbing the rider of visibility.

"There´s too many of them! And I can´t aim properly unless they get close!"

Kip swore under her breath. She spotted another mana canceller charging in the wing mirror just milliseconds before another net narrowly missed them. She noted from the brief glance into the mirrors that not all motorbikes had mana cancellers. She reached a decision in no time.

"Hold on tight!"

"Wha-" that was the only warning that Percival got before Kip suddenly yanked the motorbike to the side, tipping it until it almost reached the ground. In the short moment before the centripetal force returned the motorbike to standing position, Kip reached the ground. A burst of light spread from her gauntled-clad hand into the asphalt, turning turning a portion of the highway into sticky, black tar.

The motorbikes chasing behind them all got stuck in the goo, the riders swearing colorfully as they unsuccessfully tried to escape the trap.

"That was dangerous," Percival remarked, "you could´ve thrown both of us off." Then he gestured to the liquid road. "I could´ve done that too."

"Yes, but we don´t want any more inflation, now do we," Kip rolled her eyes at him. Then she sighed. "It will be hard to explain this to the employer." She dusted off her skinny black jeans.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed one of the gangsters detaching the mana canceler from his bike and aiming it their way. She nimbly jumped on his motorcycle and kicked the device out of the man´s arms, right into Percival´s waiting hands. Then she kicked the man who almost attacked them in the jaw for good measure, before jumping back to stand next to Percival.

The mage was inspecting the strange hand canon. "Do you think it does something to non-mages as well?" he asked.

"Well, there´s only one way to find out. Not on me you idiot!" Kip promptly pushed the barrel out of her way when Percival aimed it at her. "Give it to me."

She snatched the device out of Percival´s arms and aimed it at the original owner. One press of the trigger later and the man gave out a pained shout as the glowing net entangled him. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Conclusion: don´t let that stuff hit you, mage or not," Kip concluded. She would bring this weapon back to the guild for inspection. She could hear Percival saying something into his phone.

"Uh-huh, yeah, hold on a sec," Percival put his phone away from his ear and turned to Kip. "I called the police forces to come pick them up. They should be here in about ten minutes."

Kip nodded. "Good, that gives me enough time to go and fix the road you turned into gold. I´ll borrow the bike. You keep an eye on them."

"Sure. Sorry about that," Percival smiled and gingerly rubbed his head.

"Whatever." With that, Kip drove off.

Really, they got into quite a mess this time. Even if they did manage to stop an anti-magic biker gang, the damage was considerable. At least nobody got hurt.

Percival concentrated and sent a wave of magic through the ground. All the rider´s massive shoes turned into gold, effectively pinning them in place. They would have to be carefully cut to free them, but that wasn´t his concern anymore.

"Fuck ya´," one of the riders, a massive man with a filthy beard, spat to the side. "Filthy mage scum."

"Ah well," Percival replied with a grin. "It was you guys who didn´t respect the rules of the road in the first place."

The man ignored him and continued in his monologue. "It´s ´cause of your kind that my beloved daughter won´t ever walk again. Fuckin´ sons of bitches." He spat again.

Percival didn´t have an answer for this. It was not _his_ fault of course, but it didn´t look like he could bring this man out of his delusions. He sighed, sat on the ground and watched over the captured biker gang until the howling of police sirens could be heard in the distance.

* * *

 **Character credits:**

 **Yan Jia Yi – Deadly Animals Are Cute**

 **Aspen Vale – WhitewolfLune**

 **Cyan and Aina Misitcka – PrincessFairytail5**

 **Mavis Kipley – Canima**

 **Percival Kay - Omnitrain**

 **AN: So that´s that. Thank you everyone so much for your kind words and your advice in the last chapter.**

 **Because no anime fanfiction would be complete without a trap. Now I just need an edgy emo and a homosexual pedophile weirdo for the triad to be complete.**

 **Here´s a message from Panda to readers of Seven Lions:**

 _ **Chapter four has 10K words in and will publish another 15K words or more to make up for the long pause. Accepting only one female character as it is the last spot for Seven Lions. Details on the spot will be given through PM. The notice will be removed once the next chapter is complete and ready for publish. Those who are following The One Game: Rebirth next chapter will be out as soon as I'm able. Don't expect action though as I need to set and give the setting it is in.**_


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